Historical-Analytical Studies on Nature, Mind and Action 2 Miguel García-Valdecasas José Ignacio Murillo Nathaniel F. Barrett Editors Biology and Subjectivity Philosophical Contributions to Non- reductive Neuroscience Historical-Analytical Studies on Nature, Mind and Action Volume 2 Editor-in-Chief Professor Gyula Klima, Fordham University Editors Dr. Russell Wilcox, University of Navarra Professor Henrik Lagerlund, University of Western Ontario Professor Jonathan Jacobs, CUNY, John Jay College of Criminal Justice Advisory Board Dan Bonevac, University of Texas Sarah Borden, Wheaton College Edward Feser, Pasadena College Jorge Garcia, University of Buffalo William Jaworski, Fordham University Joseph E. Davis, University of Virginia Stephan Meier-Oeser, Academy of Sciences of Göttingen José Ignacio Murillo, University of Navarra Calvin Normore, UCLA Penelope Rush, University of Tasmania Jack Zupko, University of Alberta H istorical-Analytical Studies on Nature, Mind and Action provides a forum for integrative, multidisciplinary, analytic studies in the areas of philosophy of nature, philosophical anthropology, and the philosophy of mind and action in their social setting. Tackling these subject areas from both a historical and contemporary systematic perspective, this approach allows for various “paradigm-straddlers” to come together under a common umbrella. Digging down to the conceptual-historical roots of contemporary problems, one will inevitably fi nd common strands which have since branched out into isolated disciplines. This series seeks to fi ll the void for studies that reach beyond their own strictly defi ned boundaries not only synchronically (reaching out to contemporary disciplines), but also diachronically, by investigating the unquestioned contemporary presumptions of their own discipline by taking a look at the historical development of those presumptions and the key concepts they involve. This series, providing a common forum for this sort of research in a wide range of disciplines, is designed to work against the well- known phenomenon of disciplinary isolation by seeking answers to our fundamental questions of the human condition: What is there? -- What can we know about it? -- What should we do about it? – indicated by the three key-words in the series title: Nature, Mind and Action. This series will publish monographs, edited volumes, revised doctoral theses and translations. More information about this series at h ttp://www.springer.com/series/11934 Miguel García-Valdecasas (cid:129) José Ignacio Murillo Nathaniel F. Barrett Editors Biology and Subjectivity Philosophical Contributions to Non-reductive Neuroscience Editors Miguel García-Valdecasas José Ignacio Murillo Mind-Brain Group, Institute for Culture Mind-Brain Group, Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) and Society (ICS) University of Navarra University of Navarra Pamplona , Spain Pamplona , Spain Nathaniel F. Barrett Mind-Brain Group, Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) University of Navarra Pamplona , Spain ISSN 2509-4793 ISSN 2509-4807 (electronic) Historical-Analytical Studies on Nature, Mind and Action ISBN 978-3-319-30501-1 ISBN 978-3-319-30502-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-30502-8 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016949065 © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 T his work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. T he use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. T he publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland This book was completed with the help and support of the Institute for Culture and Society of the University of Navarra (Spain) Contents 1 Biology and Subjectivity: Philosophical Contributions to a Non-reductive Neuroscience ........................................................... 1 José Ignacio Murillo , Miguel García-Valdecasas , and Nathaniel F. Barrett 2 Self-Consciousness, Personal Identity, and the Challenge of Neuroscience ........................................................................................ 13 Dieter Sturma 3 Mind vs. Body and Other False Dilemmas of Post-Cartesian Philosophy of Mind .................................................. 25 Gyula Klima 4 Hylomorphism: Emergent Properties without Emergentism ............. 41 William Jaworski 5 Remarks on the Ontology of Living Beings and the Causality of Their Behavior ..................................................... 63 Thomas Buchheim 6 Does the Principle of Causal Closure Account for Natural Teleology? ............................................................................ 77 Miguel García-Valdecasas 7 Body, Time and Subject .......................................................................... 95 José Ignacio Murillo 8 The Enactive Philosophy of Embodiment: From Biological Foundations of Agency to the Phenomenology of Subjectivity .......................................................................................... 113 Mog Stapleton and Tom Froese 9 Radicalizing the Phenomenology of Basic Minds with Levinas and Merleau-Ponty ........................................................... 131 Matt Bower vii viii Contents 10 Mind and Value ....................................................................................... 151 Nathaniel F. Barrett 11 Ethics and Normativity ........................................................................... 181 John Cottingham Index ................................................................................................................. 193 Chapter 1 Biology and Subjectivity: Philosophical Contributions to a Non-reductive Neuroscience José Ignacio Murillo , Miguel García-Valdecasas , and Nathaniel F. Barrett I n the middle of the twentieth century, W ittgenstein warned that “the method of reducing the e xplanation of natural phenomena to the smallest possible number of primitive natural laws…leads…into complete darkness” (1 958, p. 18). At the t ime, few philosophers and even fewer scientists were prepared to heed his warning. A half-century later, however, the reductive method of science—the method famously defi ned by D escartes, brilliantly exemplifi ed by Newtonian p hysics , and long upheld as the gold standard of scientifi c explanation—seems to have fi nally lost its luster. While reduction is still widely defended, in the last decades alternative views have gained credibility, to the extent that a “ non-reductive science ” is no longer dis- missed as an oxymoron. T his change is partly due to failures of r eductive science. Most prominent of these is the failure of physics to produce a “grand unifying theory” that explains all natural phenomena using a few mathematical formulae. In response, a number of prominent physicists have called for a new approach with different explanatory standards and goals (Wolfram 2 002 ; Laughlin 2 005 ; Smolin 2 006 ). Similarly, despite the “n euro-hype” of recent decades, a leading neuroscientist has recently claimed that “we currently have plenty of knowledge about the ‘how’ of the brain but still lack an answer to the ‘what’ of the brain. We thus remain blind to its main and overarching purpose” ( Northoff 2 013 , p. xi). More positively, however, the suc- cess of innovative approaches in biology and various fi elds devoted to the study of mind indicates the promise of non-reductive science: witness the notable examples of Paul Weiss (1 973 ), Robert Rosen (1 991 ), Francisco Varela (2 000 ), and Stuart Kauffman (2 000 ) in biology ; and J.A. Scott Kelso (1 995 ), Walter Freeman (1 999 ), J. I. Murillo • M. García-Valdecasas (*) • N. F. Barrett Mind-Brain Group, Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) , University of Navarra , 31009 Pamplona , Spain e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 1 M. García-Valdecasas et al. (eds.), Biology and Subjectivity, Historical-A nalytical Studies on Nature, Mind and Action 2, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-30502-8_1